Chapter 7: The Flames of the First Campaign

 Chapter 7: The Flames of the First Campaign

Years before the banners of Virellia marched across the golden plains, before they were queens, Sarah and Michelle were commanders—young, fierce, and blood-soaked.

The enemy then was not Orcs, nor Goblins, but something far darker. Whispers from the east had spoken of the Chios—demons of shadow and fire, summoned through broken runes and blood ritual. Few had seen them and lived. Those who had spoke in tongues or tore out their eyes.

It was during the Siege of Black Hollow, deep in the Forest of Ashen Bone, that Sarah and Michelle first laid eyes on the man who would forever haunt their dreams—Sir Salty.

The army of the Chios had torn through villages, their magic burning crops to ash and twisting men into slavering beasts. The defenders of Virellia had held a final line outside Black Hollow, their backs against a river of black tar, their hope fading with every scream carried on the wind.

Sarah, still a princess then, clad in silver scale and wielding twin sabres, had fought like a whirlwind—cutting down twisted abominations with fire in her eyes. Michelle, her wild beauty barely hidden beneath her bloodstained helm, had led the lancers into the enemy’s flank, carving through corrupted ogres with a spear as long as a tree.

But it wasn’t enough. Not against the Chios Archons—the elite demonlords who walked through flame and shattered steel with their bare hands.

They would have fallen that day.

Until he arrived.

A horn blew from the northern ridge—and Salty came down like a storm.

Cloaked in black and silver, riding a giant war elk, his battle axe shimmered with runes glowing white-blue. His eyes held no fear, only fire. Where he rode, the tide turned.

He banished the first demon with a strike that cracked the sky.

The second he decapitated mid-charge, spinning through a wave of magical fire.

The third—an Archon that had once been a king—he dragged back into the summoning pit, sealing the hellgate with blood and willpower alone, as arcane chains wrapped around them both.

The forest went silent.

Michelle had whispered, breathless, “Who… is he?”

Sarah’s cheeks had flushed. “That’s no ordinary man.”

When Salty emerged from the smouldering ruins of the pit, scarred and steaming, the women approached him.

“You fight like a god,” Sarah had said, wiping blood from her cheek.

Salty had simply said, “No. Just a man with a grudge.”

Michelle had stepped closer, close enough to smell him—smoke, sweat, iron. “You saved more than lives today. You saved our futures.”

They never forgot. Not his strength, nor the soft rasp of his voice. Nor the way he’d turned down every honour, every feast, choosing instead to vanish into the hills.

But peace, like fire, never holds forever.

Now, in the present, atop the spire of the Citadel, Sarah looked out at the moonlit fields and spoke quietly.

“We thought it ended that day, when the pit closed.”

Michelle joined her, arms crossed, eyes shadowed with memory. “But some fool must’ve reopened the gate. The Chios are loose again.”

“They’ll want revenge,” Sarah said.

“And they’ll come for Salty first,” Michelle added.

They both turned as the sound of heavy boots echoed in the hall behind them.

He entered—older now, harder, and still burning like the sun.

“You remember Black Hollow?” he asked, stepping into the moonlight.

Michelle smiled slowly. “How could we forget?”

Sarah stepped forward and placed her hand over his heart. “We loved you then, Salty. We never stopped.”

His lips parted, but words failed.

“They're coming again,” he said finally. “All of them. And this time, it’s not just a pit—they want the whole world to burn.”

Michelle leaned in, her breath hot against his neck. “Then let’s fight beside you… and finish what we started.”

---

#SirSaltyLegend #ChiosDemonsReturn #QueensInBattle #EpicFantasyRomance #FirstCampaignFlames #SaltyTheDemonSlayer #SwordAndSorcery #LoveAndWar #GameOfThronesStyle #DarkFantasySaga